Jar-cover remover



F. L. REED.

JAR COVER REMOVER.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 20, 1919.

1,337,158. I Patented Apr. 13,1920.

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UNITED STATES PATENT @FFICE.

FRED L. REED, or SYRACUSE, NEW YORK.

JAR-COVER REMOVER.

Application filed November 20, 1919.

1 0 all whom it may concern Be it known that I, FRED L. REED, a citizen of the United States, residing at Syracuse, in the county of Onondaga and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Jar-Cover Removers; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accom panying drawings, forming part of this specification.

This invention relates to closure removers and has for its object to provide a device for removing the covers of fruit jars and the like.

The usual method of opening preserving jars and the like is to insert a knife. or like instrument between the rubber used for sealing the jar and the lower edge of the closure and, by using the knife as a lever, the cover is forced off the jar. lVhen opening a jar in this manner, should the knife slip, serious injury to the hand is likely to result. This liability to injury is entirely eliminated by the present invention.

In the accompanying drawings Figure 1 is a plan view of the remover;

Fig. 2 is a perspective view of a portion of a jar with the remover positioned on the closure;

Fig. 8 is a detail sectional view on the line 33, of Fig. 1.

As shown in the drawings the opener or remover is preferably made of a single piece of heavy wire bent to form two substantially circular, vertically spaced members A, B, each of which is adapted to surround and engage the greater portion of the periphery of cover 0 of the D. At the end of each of members A and B there is formed a handle E and as the entire device is made of a single piece of material the handles can readily be formed by doubling the wire upon itself, the two reaches of wire forming each handle being spaced apart a suitable dis tance to afford a better grip on the handles.

Secured in any suitable manner to the cover engaging member A is a short flat piece of metal F which extends downwardly and is attached to the other member B, preferably by soldering, at which point its lower end portion is offset or bent inwardly from member B to form a projection G. As shown, the inner edge H of projection G is sharpened and it is also inclined, thus form- Specification of Letters Iatent.

Patented Apr. 13, 1920.

Serial No. 339,302.

ing a rather sharp point and facilitating its entry between the ar closure and sealing rubber. Any desired number of projections G may be provided but preferably there are two so positioned on the engaging members A, B that one will enter between the closure and rubber on each side of the jar.

It will be understood that the wire, or other material, used in the manufacture of the device is such as will. permit the engaging members to be readily contracted, the resiliency of the material returning the members to their expanded positions. However, to prevent any lateral movement of the two engaging members with respect to each other, the two reaches of wire forming them are wrapped or twisted around each other at a point intermediate their length as indicated at I. The two reaches of wire are also similarly joined at the point I where the cover engaging members merge into the handles E.

When in use, the remover is placed over and around the jar cover as shown in Fig. 2, the projections G lying substantially in alinement with the bottom edge of the jar cover C. After being thus positioned the handles E are forced together, thus contracting members A and B and causing the projections G to enter between the jar cover and the rubber band used for sealing the jar. This will break the vacuum and generally permit the cover to be lifted off the jar. However, should the cover not be sufliciently loosened, the remover may be rotated a short distance and the projections G will break the seal between the rubber and cover ontirely and the cover can then be lifted off.

hat is claimed is:

l. A cover remover comprising a contractible cover engaging member adapted to encircle the greater portion of the cover, means for contracting said member around the cover and depending L-shaped members rigidly secured to said engaging member and forming inwardly extending projections movable toward each other when said member is contracted, said projections being positioned below the cover engaging member and adapted to enter between the cover and sealing rubber when said member is contracted.

2. A cover remover comprising upper and lower cover engaging members, means for contracting and expanding said members, a

plurality of connections between the cover engaging members, and inwardly extending projections on said connections.

3. A cover remover comprising upper and lower cover engaging members, means for contracting said members, and a plurality of members connecting said cover engaging members and forminga plurality of projections extending inwardly from one of the cover engaging members.

at. A one-piece cover remover comprising upper and lower cover engaging members each adapted to encircle the greater portion of the cover, means for contracting and expanding said members and means carried by said members adapted to enter between the cover and sealing rubber when the members are contracted.

5. A cover remover comprising upper and lower cover engaging members, means for preventing lateral movement of said members relatively to each other, means for contraeting said members, and means carried by one of said members adapted to enter between the cover and sealing rubber when the members are contracted.

6. A cover remover comprising upper and lower cover engaging members each adapted to encircle the greater portion'of the cover, handles at the ends of said members, said handles being movable toward and away from each other to contract and expand the cover engaging members, and means carried by one of said members adapted to pcnetra te between the cover and sealing rubber when said handles are moved toward each other.

FRED L. REED. 

